William eckels



(No Model.) I i s W. ECKELS. SEGTIONAL ADJUSTABLE BURIAL VAULT.

Patented Apr; 7, 1896'.

Mir-IOTWLWUWASHINGIDNJC UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

\TILLIAM EOKELS, OF MEOHANIOSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SECTlONAL ADJUSTABLE BURlAL-VAU LT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,783, dated April 7, 1896.

Serial No. 564,863. (No model.)

To all whom it 77716 7] concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM EcKELs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mechanicsburg, in the county of Cumberland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sectional Adjustable Burial-Vaults; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to sectional adj ustable burial-vaults; and it consists in constructing a peculiar form of plates, as hereinafter described and claimed, and of such relative lengths, and end pieces of different widths, so that a vault of any desired length or width may be formed by the use of the proper side plates and end pieces.

The objects of the invention are to so construct the liningplates of a vault that the use of about three sizes of side plates, with interchangeable end pieces, will produce any size vault which may be desired. This re sult is accomplished by the means hereinafter described, and illustrated on the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and on which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views.

On the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the invention, showing in dotted lines the manner of increasing the length or width of the vault. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of Fig. 1 on the line so :0. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the side plates, and Fig. 4 is a like view of two such plates broken away at the ends and locked together.

A A A represent the side plates, which it will be understood are inserted in the grave after it has been dug, and G Gare the end plates. These plates are made of cast-iron, rolled iron, or pressed or rolled steel plates, as may be found to be most advantageous, or they may be of any ceramic material. The side plates A are preferably two, three, and four feet in length, respectively, and with plates of these lengths vaults may be constructed that will be two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight feet in length, and with two, or at most three, end pieces a vault of any desired width or length may be produced.

The side plates A are formed at each end with vertical grooves B, which are broken away, as at F, to receive a suitable key or toggle C for looking the plates to each other.

I have shown the grooves of T form; but they may be straight or of dovetail form and accomplish the same function. The plates A are also provided with flanges D at one end on the outer side, so that when two of these plates are locked or secured together this flange D covers and protects the joint between their ends.

The end plates G are made of two or three sizes or widths, so as to .be interchangeable, and are used for forming a wider or narrower vault. They are formed at each side with tongues to fit the form or shape of the grooves in the side plates or pieces A.

The key 0 is made with right-angled ends, and it is inserted in the grooves B, where they are broken away at F and form a secure and effective means of lockin g the plates together.

Other forms of key or toggle may be used, or the side plates may be secured together in any other known wayas, for example, by making lateral holes or apertures through both tongue and groove and inserting a pin or toggle therethrough.

One or more courses of brick or other material, as slate, may be used in the bottom of the vault. Brick are shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The manner of constructing vaults of different lengths and widths will be readily apparent, and is well illustrated in full and dotted lines in Fig. 1. For example, if a fourfoot vault should be wanted the four-foot plates or pieces with the end pieces would be sufficient, while to construct a six-foot vault two pieces four feet long and two two feet long would be used with the proper end pieces. To make the vault wider, it is only necessary to use wider end pieces or plates.

The vault is well adapted for use in connection with the cover for which a patent was granted to me October 9, 1894:, No. 527,238, and which cover, with the present invention, forms a cheap, durable, and practically imperisha-ble vault.

Minor changes in the detailsof construction may be made within the scope of my invention without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A vault composed of side plates, each of difierent length from the others, and each provided with a vertical groove at each end, broken by a transverse groove, keys engaging the transverse grooves of adjacent plates and locking them together, and end plates having tongues to engage the vertical grooves in the side plates, said side plates being adapted to be used at will as intermediate or end side sections.

2. A vault composed of side plates, each of 

